TIME SAVING FLOOR & WALL PAINTING IDEAS

TIME: 300 sq ft wall area per hour (2 Coats)

TOOLS: Drywall knife, caulk/gun, brushes/cut can, ladder, roller/cage/pole/, tray/liner, drops, pencil, measuring tape, two 2 ft by 2 ft sheets of thick cardboard sewing pins,.

PRODUCTS: Drywall mud, caulking, tray liners, tape, roll of plastic, spray can of stain blocker Cotton rag, rubber gloves.

PAINT: Primer for floors and if needed for the walls( 300 to 400 sq ft per gallon) base coat for walls(300 to 400 sq ft per gallon). One gallon of clear coat (Floors 300 to 400 sq ft per gallon) Three qrts or smaller of complementing accent colors. The amount of paint depends on the size of the room.(estimate paint)

COST: $100.00 to $150.00 (not including tools) 150 sq Ft of wall painting ideas or floor space. (Estimating Time)

For your wall painting ideas I suggest using a test board before starting. In this case it's some what difficult to get a precise vision of the completed walls. Even so it's still best to paint a couple coats of base coat color on both sides of two pieces of cardboard. Insert sewing pins in the corners of the board. The pins act as legs and help in speeding up the drying time. I used a white base coat on my boys floors then accentuated the area with primary colors. Darker tone will also work. Midnight blue splattered with a yellow gold, and toped off with a burgundy would be interesting. Once your test sheets have dried you can start applying your complementary colors to them. Dip a small brush into an accent tone quickly pull it out and let the paint spill onto your base colored test boards. Move the brush up and down or in circles. Go with what will look good for your wall painting ideas. Do the same with each successive tone until your happy with the out come. The process doesn't give an exact picture of how your walls will look. Still by testing your chosen accents you'll know if your colors are complementing each other. Prior to jazzing up the drywall be sure to read the (ragging) page. By doing so you won't miss any wall design steps. Before painting an area a girls bedroom for example, remove as many objects out of the room as possible. As the paint is being applied you'll get some on your shoes. Don't forget and go running through the house to start some different wall painting ideas. Mask off the baseboards along with any other object you don't want paint on ( light switches doors etc. Place drop cloths on the floor and on top of any furniture or objects you couldn't move ( old sheets or drapes work well). Put on some rubber gloves and be sure your choice of clothing is disposable. Follow the instructions for taping the wall for a border (ragging). Unroll the plastic around the room in a circle. By laying the plastic out first you won't need to pull on the roll while up on a ladder. Tape the edge of the rolled plastic to the upper part of the walls (spraying). Use a sharp utility knife to cut the plastic at the level where the border is going to divide the room. Remember to use tape and plastic to cover doors, jams, casing and windows. The object is to guard surfaces you don't want being splattered with your wall painting ideas. If the lower part of the room needs a couple extra coats you'll need to cut and roll it on. Now that all the important stuff is protected and the base coats are dry your ready to begin your wall painting ideas. Open your first can of accent. In a fast side arm throwing motion propel the paint towards the wall. Do this around the room try different angles if you like. Keep your arm horizontally and swipe the brush through the air towards the floor. The reason for doing it this way is to keep from decorating the ceiling. Unless you want to splatter the stipple then you go right ahead. Keep going with each color. This technique is so much fun to do you wont want to stop. I do suggest staying away from the car. Unless it's the neighbors. You know the ones who borrow stuff all the time. There cat uses your lawn as a litter box. They have the big Doberman and it barks all night long. Maybe you better go back to the wall painting ideas and stay away from there car to.

The splattering technique is by far one of your easiest floor or wall painting ideas. It'll take some drying time between coats but in the end you'll be happy with your finished decor. Remove everything from the room. Cover the base boards and the lower parts of any doors (2' ft up) with tape ( 2'' is best). An exit out of the room is needed. When you use news or masking paper to protect the lower parts of the doors be sure you can still get out of the room. Mop the area with cleaner and warm water. Apply a deglosser which is found at most hardware stores. You could pole sand the floor instead. If you do purchase a pole sander it'll also work well for your wall painting ideas. Test a small inconspicuous spot with 100 grit sandpaper (where the bed or a dresser sits). Your trying to get rid of the shine not scratch the surface. You can use a hand sander but Its a bit on the why does my elbow feel like a noodle side. If the floor surface is already dull just clean it. With a brush and roller coat the floor using the best primer you can buy. Tell your paint store person what your project entails. For example is it wood, linoleum, concrete, or 1970 green shag carpet. Whatever your floor or wall painting ideas are they should be able to help you out. Have the primer tinted to the color you've selected for your base coat. By doing so it saves a step and leaves a few bucks in your pocket. When the primer is dry place a folded drop cloth just outside the door you'll be using to leave the room. I suggest wearing clean socks as unposed to shoes for this job. Position your tools and accents on top of the cloth. Carry your first color and a 1 or 2 inch wide brush to the farthest corner of the room. Working your way back towards the exit dip the brush into the paint quickly pull it out letting color drizzle over the primed floor. Twirl your hand and arm creating your very own unique designs. If you did the test boards you'll have an idea for the technique to use. Let each layer dry before adding the next. When buying your accents ask for a durable quick drying product. If its warm enough in the house you should be dripping on tones every three or four hours. Pobably not the recommendation for floors or wall painting ideas but your not covering the entire surface between applications. After your creativity is complete and the paint is dry, top coat at least twice useing a water based clear coat made for high traffic areas.